Questions About Pilot's Fatigue And Qualifications At Hearings On Upstate New York Plane Crash

Questions About Pilot's Fatigue And Qualifications At Hearings On Upstate New York Plane Crash

Posted on May 14, 2009 9:10am PDT

At hearings investigating the upstate New York
plane crash that killed 51 people this February, after it became clear that pilot
error almost surely caused the accident, Colgan Air executives were questioned
on their hiring practices, pay scales, and their pilots’ commutes,
The New York Times reports.

The National Transportation Safety Board hearings, which continue today,
encountered many of the same issues that frequently draw the ire of New
York personal injury lawyers: responsible jobs held by questionably qualified
individuals, difficult working conditions and extremely low wages.

Nearly every detail of the situation is shocking. For instance, Marvin
D. Renslow, the captain of the doomed flight, lied about how many times
he failed a hands-on proficiency exam on his job application; he told
Colgan he had failed once – he had flunked the test three times.
Colgain Air had the right to request that Mr. Renslow provide authorization
to view his FAA records, an action it did not take.

Then, during his employment at Colgan Air, Captain Renslow failed two more
proficiency exams before he was certified to fly the Dash 8, the aircraft
he went on to crash.

But perhaps these failures can be attributed to fatigue. After all, Captain
Renslow commuted regularly between his Florida home and the Newark airport
where he worked. With no residence near the airport, Captain Renslow often
slept in the crew lounge. This practice, which rarely led to a good night’s
sleep, was prohibited by Colgan Air, though management never took serious
action to stop it.

Surely, on a pilot’s salary, couldn’t Captain Renslow afford
at least a humble residence near the airport? Unfortunately small, regional
carriers like Colgan Air don’t pay pilots anything close to what
the larger airlines pay. According to ETN , a travel industry news service,
while larger airlines pay their pilots about $125,000 a year, smaller
carriers like Colgan only pay about $50,000 a year.

Even worse off was Captain Renslow’s co-pilot, Rebecca Shaw. Living
near Seattle, Shaw was faced with an even longer commute than Captain
Renslow, was paid only $16,200 a year and was forced to take a second
job serving coffee to make ends meet.

Airline pilots hold one of the most responsible jobs in the country. It
is a career that requires intense concentration, rare skills and an extremely
flexible schedule. The public has a strong interest in ensuring that pilots
are qualified, healthy and well-rested before they’re allowed on
a flight deck. Yet the conditions revealed at the NTSB’s hearings
obviously run against this interest.

Any New York personal injury attorney will tell you it is ill-advised to
create a situation wherein a questionably-qualified, sleepy person is
put in charge of complicated equipment with the capacity to injure or
kill dozens or hundreds of people. Colgain Air, and other small carriers
like it, must reconsider their practices before another tragedy occurs.